Another Cool, Grey Day In the Tropics

 

Today dawned cold and overcast again. Not what one expects from the weather in the tropics. The vagaries of mother Nature!

No sun sights were possible today as a result. We never saw the sun. The closest we got was a pale shaft of light struggling its way through the thick cloud for a brief moment, casting a brief moment of warmth. Only to bow out to the thick clouds swirling all over the heavens.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring clear weather. This will make the navigation quite interesting, having to calculate dead reckoning over a 48 hour period. A challenge indeed. The wind, clouds and heavy seas the last few days were not really conducive to decent navigation either. Hence the increasing difference between the GPS and my humble calculations.

The mood on board is upbeat. We have a Monopoly Deal card league in the late mornings, then a Uno card league after dinner. These help a lot towards making light of the heavy weather.

There is still a positive spirit on board in spite of the bad weather. We are all looking forward to better weather and some sunshine. And the couple crewing exudes this exuberant mood of excitement about their adventures on board. Quite contagious.

I have not had the best of times on board yet, as I have been struggling with a rotten sinus problem since day two of the voyage.

The medication has worked and it seems to be clearing. This serves me as a good example of what to look out for before an extended voyage. You need to keep your body healthy, else the germs strike at sea at the most inopportune times. Hopefully this is a thing of the past and I shall be able to enjoy the rest of the voyage.

Needless to say, we have not caught a single fish yet. Perhaps the fish are also feeling the effects of the weather. Or perhaps they went on an extended vacation elsewhere.

Much like the Mole in The Wind In The Willows. I have almost finished reading this delightful story by Kenneth Grahame. I am sorry I missed out on this type of literature in my schooldays. I may have been the richer for reading these as opposed to technical manuals and textbooks.

There seems to be quite a few parallels between what we are doing, crossing the ocean, and the travels of the animals depicted in the story. I am now at the chapter on the wanderings of all the other animals, where the Sea Rat is telling about his adventures all over the world's ports and oceans. With vivid descriptions of all the places he had been to. Very much like us here on board at the moment. Sometimes I pray for the ability to have words to describe what I am experiencing. The chapter is aptly named Wayfarers All

In the song Those Were The Days there is a line reading: “We are older but no wiser, for in our hearts the dreams are still the same.” I suspect this is true for most of us.

We all have dreams. Some we are able to realise, others are more difficult to get to, so we aspire, we reach out, but may not accomplish the dream. Here on board we are a small community actually living part of our dreams, even if only in small ways.

And it is not at an exhorbitant cost, money-wise or career-wise. We are sailing a brand new boat across the oceans, enjoying the facilites on board, even though it is limited. The limitations are due to the responibility of delivering the boat as new, therefore we forego the use some of the facililiteis on board. And we eat out of the very ceapest plastic crockery because we ditch them at the destination. But that does not really detract from the joy of crossing an ocean with a few friends.

Getting here appears to be a life decision, sticking to the decision, then working hard at getting here. And planning properly, making sure one understands what is involved in the decision and what the path to follow looks like. I get the idea that many folks just give up, still at the dream stage, not really taking charge and moving towards realising their dream.

And you have to this one step at a time. It is not possible to it in leaps and bounds.

Rather like eating an elephant.

Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Last updated on 2013-10-01